Currently all search techniques on the internet require people to type in words or phrases to describe what they want to buy or sell. While this model is efficient for standardized goods such as books, cars, CDs and machine parts that require nothing more than a model number, quantity or price to exchange, such a model is inefficient for complex goods like furniture and textiles for instance, whose descriptions can vary from person to person. There is currently no way on the Internet for an individual to search for what they want without the use of text as the primary search tool.
Consider if two people were asked to write a description of a chair, it is unlikely that their descriptions would match. Why? Because the terms and phrases needed to describe the chair accurately belong to a very complex stylistic language that is unfamiliar to the majority of the population. Stylistically this chair can be called Victorian, Renaissance Revival or Greek Revival. Its form can be called a side chair, a parlor chair, a lady's chair or even a slipper chair depending on its height. A similar range of options exists for the possible materials used in the chair and for its condition. The general public cannot be expected to know all the stylistic terms associated with this chair. Nevertheless, current search models on the internet offer no alternative to the use of text. They simply assume that both buyer and seller are using the same vocabulary when searching for highly complex items, but they're not.
The logical alternative to the use of text is that of images. If two people were given a picture of the chair discussed above and then were told to find that chair among many similar but different chairs in the same room, they would likely choose the same chair. Why? Because people can match complex items a lot quicker with a picture than with a written description. By comparison, if the same two people were placed in a room having many different chairs and were told to find the one that was Renaissance Revival, their ability to choose the correct chair would depend on their knowledge of furniture styles, not on their natural ability to identify similar images.
Current online models have their limitations such as auctions. Online auctions have drawn a lot of attention recently due to the incredible success of Ebay.com, a multi-billion dollar company based in San Jose, Calif. Ebay provides a space for buyers and sellers to bid on millions of items which are divided into one of several categories such as antiques, metalware, pottery and textiles etc. Buyers find sellers by entering “keywords” or phrases that match descriptions given to the items by the sellers. Buyers are allowed to bid on the items electronically for up to 10 days at which time the bidding ends and the item is awarded to the highest bidder. Ebay does not guarantee or administer the actual exchange of the item. It simply provides a medium through which a trade can take place. It is up to the buyer and the seller to complete the transaction once the auction has ended. Traders are allowed to post comments or complaints about one another. These comments are publicly accessible and therefore shape the reputations of the traders.
Ebay exacts a fee from the seller for listing the item and a commission based on the item's auction price. The buyer pays nothing to use Ebay.
Online auctions are limited by their reliance on text-based descriptions and by the cost of shipping.
While Ebay is turning a profit, its usefulness as an exchange mechanism is limited to a very narrow range of items—items that require very little information to describe and are shipped at little cost. Such items include small collectibles like Hummel figurines, and name-brand items like Coach leather goods. Because these items are easily described by their production number, name or form, and can be shipped cheaply, the number of buyers who can compete for them is vast as compared to that for large, cumbersome items that are difficult to describe and costly to transport.
For example, if one were to conduct a search on Ebay for the chair discussed above, he would be faced with several problems. The first would be choosing the keywords to best describe the item. The second problem is one of trust. Is the chair really as the seller has described? Has it been repaired? Is it comfortable etc.? Third, how much will it cost to ship it? Keep in mind that Ebay is globally accessible and the chair could be (and often is) hundreds of miles away. So what is the incentive of buying a chair through Ebay that cannot be physically inspected because of its distance or is interchangeable with chairs found locally that can be transported at little cost? There is none.
Online brokers have their limitations, especially those that handle decorative art, specialize in one category or range of items, and they cater to clients who desire such items. The information on their Websites is arranged according to the knowledge and expertise of their clients. An example is Circline.com, based in New York.
Circline.com is a broker site for very rare and expensive decorative art and antiques. It too requires users to enter text when searching for an object, but it does not face the same miscommunication problems between buyers and sellers that can occur in an auction setting. This is due to the high level of education and familiarity that Circline's clients have with stylistic terms. Buyers and sellers find one another quickly on Circline because they share a common understanding of how objects are described. Additionally, shipping costs are not of great concern because of the expense, rarity and desirability of the items.
Depending on their level of service, brokers administer every step of a transaction to varying degrees. Circline for instance fields all inquiries about the items for sale, arranges the payment schedule between the parties, handles the transportation and insurance, guarantees the satisfaction of the parties and protects the identity of the seller. This is done for a fee based on the listed price of the item.
Online brokers are useful only to a small portion of the population—those who have a cultivated knowledge of what they want and the financial resources to afford it.
Because their target audience has a high level of expertise, online brokers assume that their clients will be able to use text and keyword searches successfully when describing what they want. Online brokers are highly specialized entities and are not suited to meet the needs of the general public.
Storefronts are websites that are owned and operated by independent sellers of goods. Storefronts are usually nothing more than an online catalogue of inventories housed in one location—typically physical shops or warehouses. The inventories of decorative art and antique sites for instance are grouped by their form or use like tables and chairs, or more generally like bedroom and parlor furniture. Because the user has no way of specifying what he wants beyond the basic form of the item, he is forced to browse the entire inventory in the hope of finding something he likes.
Buyers are sent to different storefronts on the Internet through search engines. A search engine is nothing more than a service used to find information on the Internet. Search engines recommend different sites according to words or phrases entered by the user. If a user does not know the online address of a particular site, then he must locate the site through a search engine by using terms that describe what the user wants.
Storefronts allow buyers to browse the collections of many stores without having to leave home. Because the inventories can be viewed anywhere at any time, storefront sites have increased the sellers' market reach tremendously.
Finding a particular shop online is fairly simple, but locating a specific item is extremely difficult and time consuming. There is no way for a consumer to find what he wants on the Internet directly without first being sent through multiple layers of search. Once an item is found however, the cost to ship it may be prohibitive relative to its price and rarity in the market.
Online storefronts along with auctions and broker sites are depositories for the majority of saleable items on the Internet. They are all text based-meaning that if a buyer wishes to locate a particular item within the site he must enter keywords in order to specify what he wants. Unfortunately, as explained earlier, text is only useful when the desired item can be described with a few common or widely know terms. If a buyer is unable to articulate what he wants in the form of words, then his/her efforts to find that item on the internet will be futile?
The Internet currently offers consumers no alternative to text-based searches.